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26 Jan 2015

Australia Day 2015 - Start to Discover

The idea of a word for a year has always amused me in the past but I find myself finally living on my own, with no one to please but myself, and I discovered that I'm living with a stranger.

I grow plants to eat, I have pets to care for, hobbies to interest me and online friends to exchange ideas with but that is what I do, not who I am. Who I am is a bit different. It does involve what I do but it also involves how I am and my behaviour and opinions and having an "inside" look at myself there's nothing that stands out to indicate to me that I'm living my life and making my life what I want it to be. I also feel like I have no purpose in life and am just existing as there's no person that needs my time or my care anymore and I feel a bit like I'm being blown about never arriving anywhere or acheiving anthing. I don't want to just "be" or "be something" to someone else - like a job description....I want to be me but I'm not sure who that is.


So for the first time I'm going to try a word for a year and that word is 

Discover




I think today is an appropriate day to begin my personal journey to discover myself .

Afterthought: This has been my "theme" song for about 12 months now and still is. We can all try to be a little better than we actually are and it shouldn't take something momentous for this to happen.


"Live Like You Were Dyin"

He said I was in my early 40's,
With a lot of life before me,
And a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
I spent most of the next days, lookin' at the x-rays,
Talkin' 'bout the options and talkin' 'bout sweet time.
Asked him when it sank in, that this might really be the real end.
How's it hit ya, when you get that kind of news.
Man what ya do.
And he says,

[Chorus]

I went sky divin',
I went rocky mountain climbin',
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull name Fumanchu.
And I loved deeper,
And I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I've been denying,
And he said someday I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'.

He said I was finally the husband,
That most the time I wasn't.
And I became a friend a friend would like to have.
And all the sudden goin' fishing,
Wasn't such an imposition.
And I went three times that year I lost my dad.
Well I finally read the good book,
And I took a good long hard look at what I'd do
If I could do it all again.
And then.

[Chorus]

Like tomorrow was a gift and you've got eternity
To think about what you do with it,
What could you do with it, what can
I do with with it, what would I do with it.

[Chorus]
Sky divin',
I went rocky mountain climbin',
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull name Fumanchu.
And I loved deeper,
And I spoke sweeter,
And I watched an eagle as it was flyin'.
And he said someday I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'.

To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.

Performed by Tim McGraw
Writer(s): Tim Nichols, Craig Wiseman
Copyright: Bug Music, Big Loud Shirt, Warner-tamerlane Publishing Corp.



Cheers,
Robyn XO


22 Jan 2015

Bread, Fruit, Technology and Music....not necessarily in that order

I baked another loaf of sourdough a couple of days ago and though I'm happier with it than the first time I baked it it still split along the sides, even though I slashed it.





Oh well, practice makes perfect....or at least better and I'm saving about $3/loaf every time I bake one as they are about $4.50/loaf at the supermarket and full of additives.


I collected my new lappy from town yesterday and Matti is going to add stuff to it for me when I can manage to take it to her. Now I just have to learn how to drive it! I won't be using it just yet as I have no security on it so I'm stuck with the old dinosaur I've been using, *roll eyes*, so please bear with me in the photo - or lack of - department.


Also bought some guitar strings for Matti's 3/4 guitar that she gifted me as I'm going to finally learn how to play. It looks a bit bare without it's 'bling' on.....


but here's the 'bling'!


Yes, that is a spare 'B' string next to the packet of nylon strings. If I break the darn thing fitting and tuning at least I won't need to do a 30km round trip for another. I'll be using a few choice 'B' words if  I do break a string! I also shouted myself a clip on tuner so I don't have to muck around with tuning forks or need absolute quiet to tune it.
He he he he.....when I learn to play my first song, successfully, I'll buy a guitar stand :). Don't anyone hold their breath waiting for that though!


On the way home from the above trip to town there was a sign a few blocks from my house that advertised fruit so I dropped by and put my money in the honesty box next to the stand. $4 for the home grown watermelon and $2 for the rockmelon. They smell WONDERFUL after the scent less offerings at the supermarkets. (The mug is only there for size comparison.) 


I'm going to wrap my teeth around a sourdough, tuna and salad sandwich now and follow it with some rockmelon for dessert before readying myself for afternoon shift.

Have a great afternoon everyone, and for the Ozzies - a great long Aussie Day weekend coming up! Just remember we weren't the first inhabitants of this great country though.

Cheers, 
Robyn XO








14 Jan 2015

Beyond the Black Stump

Just catching up from a post I made back in September, which is actually only 5 posts back, where I mentioned photos of my new digs. My header photo is taken out at SO's which is the other side of this black stump area. Here's a few photos that I took last year of my new digs, that I posted on facebook, but couldn't figure out till now how to put them on here.


A couple of views of the front entrance.




The cat and dog relaxing in the back yard. Lol, I'll have to update this one as the pot now has strawberry plants in it and the rock edged garden is going back to lawn for ease of mowing and care. Maybe after I mow the overgrown lawn again as then they can be compared!


This is the sign you see as you enter the area.



Stay tuned for updates in the future as I have cleaned up the gardens at the front and have some vegetables growing out the back near the fruit trees.

Cheers,
Robyn xo





12 Jan 2015

Growing, making, earning and another new toy *cheeky grin*!

Yay, had some rain in the last week! The garden appreciated it. I'd planted some kikuyu runners in a bare patch in the back yard and they are thriving now. The fruit tree leaves have plumped up again too. The woebegotten looking strawberry plants have a new lease on life and I've put some sprouted spuds under some grass mulch near my pumpkin vines so hoping they respond well to the showers. Removed spider grass and some other self propagating plant from the front circular garden and planted dwarf corn kernels and yellow butter bean seeds. The main front garden has 3 lots of zucchini seeds in it where I cut and poisoned some self sown trees. I've pulled lots of weeds out the back while the soil is soft and the compost bin is full. Now if I can just keep the mad cat out of the pot near the front door that I've sewn mixed leafy greens in........

My sourdough mother is finished. I'm making some bread from it today.

Darn it! I had to report to Centrelink last week and unfortunately I didn't earn enough to remove me from their list because of the compulsory break over Christmas. Last week was the 9th week too so if I'd earnt above the requirements I wouldn't have to deal with them unless I registered for Newstart again. Now I need to start another 9 week above requirements earning stint....grrrrr...

OK whinge over :)

I'll blame my DD, Matilda, for this as she told me about it....hahahaha...
I'm in the process of arranging to purchase another machine that will help me destash but it may be a while till I can collect it from where it will be delivered and stored as that is about 200km away. Pics when, and if, I can.

I really must find a way to post photos again but that may have to wait until I have a new laptop. Disliking posting text only blog posts and as I'm starting to really settle in here now and restart my simple life I want to share it with my internet friends.

Cheers,
RobynLouise





4 Jan 2015

Oh, Google works again and my little treats!

One of my NY aims was to try and blog more frequently but Google decided to put a spanner in that yesterday when I couldn't even log into my gmail, let alone reply to blog posts or make a new post. Looks like everything is back to normal now though.

I treated myself yesterday as I went for a look through Spotlight and Lincraft. Very disappointed in Lincraft as the shop looked scruffy with fabrics etc not put back, boxes of half unpacked items in the aisles and only a couple of staff that I could see, but spied a pair of pinking scissors in Spotlight that were 30% off, and I've wanted a pair for years since mine were lost but cringed at paying about $25-30 for them. These only cost me $13 so I'm very pleased. Spotlight had plenty of helpful staff too and the shop was very tidy considering the amount of shoppers there.

I also bought myself a 200gm Christmas box of Lindt chocolates for $5 at Woolies when I grocery shopped. Doesn't hurt to have a little treat every now and then :).

Slightly overcast day today and I'm hoping it will rain as after two 41C days I think the area needs a cool wet break.

Cheers,
Robyn xo

2 Jan 2015

2015 - A new beginning

Hoping everyone had a good Christmas and great New Year celebrations!

I visited my parents over Christmas, thanks to the kind financial support of my online friends, and I'm glad I did, as my step-dad's health has worsened since I last saw him 14 months ago. If he doesn't see next Christmas I won't be too sad though as I have been lucky to have him live till 82 and been blessed with his presence in my life for 40 of those years. Lessons I learned from him will never fade and I'm glad Mum met him and invited him into our lives. He still looks after Mum and does most of the shopping and cooking so I'm not sure what will happen when he's no longer there. Guess we'll jump that log when we come to it instead of worrying in advance how big it might be.

NYE wasn't celebrated by me, but I certainly heard the pub clientele next door having a good time till about 2am New Year's Day! I decided it was a good night to turn on the aircon and the fan and read a book while consuming chocolate cake. No alcohol was drunk as I figured I'd sleep well enough without it after the late night, hahahaha....

Now that I have a bit of a routine with work and what I do around the house I feel more settled so I'm thinking of joining in a group or going to the pool regularly and I'll be doing my crafty things again as that keeps my brain active and also relaxes me.

About time I began exploring the local area too, though I'm sure with mostly 36-42 degree celcius heat in the offing it's possibly not a good time of year for that!

I'm off shortly to do some grocery shopping and use their aircon to stay cool on this 41C day. One way of saving my electricity and the ensuing bill :D.

Cheers,
Robyn xo